


Caring, Not Sharing

by Heart_Seoul_Soshi



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 08:18:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14786826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heart_Seoul_Soshi/pseuds/Heart_Seoul_Soshi
Summary: Mal should’ve seen this coming. Evie may have been born to a villain, and raised a villain, but in her heart she had always been an Auradon girl. A princess. The royal symbol of elegance and grace and goodness. Of course she found friendship in others like her, others who shared her passions. Mal was nothing like her, and shared none of her passions. She hated the dresses, couldn’t care less about the makeup, thought nothing of the princess pastimes. She was only Mal, daughter of Maleficent, and no princess. So she’d been tossed away, just like all the other Auradon castoffs that found their way to the shores of The Isle. Well, she still had Jay and Carlos, she couldn’t truly say she was alone.But that didn’t stop her from feeling like it.





	Caring, Not Sharing

**Author's Note:**

> from an anonymous request on tumblr

They were stupid, stupid, girly things. Disgustingly frilly and fancy with their lace and their tulle, and ridiculous looking to boot. With straps, or even strapless, backless, or with slits—Mal wouldn’t touch a dress with a ten foot pole.  
  
Unless Evie asked her to, of course. 

Evie knew her best friend’s abhorrence of the things, and tried her hardest to only ask for a second creative opinion, an artistic eye, or maybe a spare hand to hold a hem here and there. But sometimes, Evie needed a living, breathing model, and whenever she came to Mal with a shy smile and a quiet request, Mal didn’t mind so much then. They weren’t dresses when Evie asked her to try them on, they were “Evie’s creations”. And Evie’s creations had certainly taken off since coming to Auradon.  
  
It started with Audrey, whose distaste for the VKs couldn’t hold a candle to her taste for fashion. She came to Evie first, commissioning a dress for some royal meeting or whatever where she’d no doubt spend an evening draped all over Ben. Mal hadn’t paid attention to the details, parked on her bed reading her Goodness book while comfortably flat on her tummy, but she  _had_  paid attention to the glow on Evie’s face, the sparkle in her eyes.  
  
And of course, it had turned out just as magnificent as Mal knew it would. Evie had her doubts and worries throughout the entire design process (the pressure of her first paying client being a princess, if not  _the_  princess, certainly didn’t help matters) but when Audrey came to collect she was absolutely dazzled. A seashell pink halter dress with sparkles all down the length of the skirt that made it shimmer like starlight. Audrey was delighted. Evie was delighted. Mal would never use the word “delighted” to describe herself, but she was happy that Evie had gotten this chance. It was her first, but it certainly wouldn’t be her last, as the eyes that were on Audrey the entire night of her fancy affair soon came flocking to Mal and Evie’s dorm with eager faces and pockets of cash.  
  
With the popularity came a need for a name, and it was all too easy to come up with “Evie’s 4 Hearts”. Her dream was up and running, her own clothing line and her work being clamored for by Auradon Prep, by the likes of  _royalty._  
  
Mal’s excitement for Evie began to fade all too quickly when she realized the hypocrisy of it all, how the very same people who spurned and scorned the VKs just for being who they were now buddied up to Evie day in and day out like they’d been the best of friends with her forever. Well, they hadn’t. It didn’t matter how unwillingly it had initially come to Mal, the position of Evie’s best friend had already fallen to  _her._  
  
She didn’t know what to think when Audrey caught up to her in the hall one day, heels clicking steadily as she moved to get to Mal and then to class before passing period was over.  
  
“Hey Mal!” she called out, getting her attention before falling into step beside her. “Have you seen E?”  
  
Mal practically skidded to a stop.  
  
 _“Who?”_  she questioned, voice up an octave and eyebrow raised.  
  
Audrey frowned, not understanding the reaction.  
  
“Evie,” she clarified, a tad annoyed that she had to in the first place.  
  
 _Yeah, Evie,_ were the words that Mal had to stop herself from sharply uttering, darn near ready to throw down when the princess dared to use that special nickname that was reserved only for Mal.  
  
“She’s already in 5th period,” Mal grumbled instead. “She gets there early.”  
  
And she regretted divulging that information when Audrey gave her a thanks and hurried off in the direction of Evie’s 5th period class. Mal didn’t even want to think about how and why Audrey apparently knew her schedule so well, not even needing to ask what the class was.  
  
Needless to say, it was only the beginning. Mal was less than thrilled when meals in the dining hall stopped being her, Evie, Carlos, and Jay. It seemed that all at once it became her, Evie, Carlos, Jay, Audrey, Lonnie, Jane, and girls whose names Mal didn’t even know. She found herself crowded to one end of the table with the boys while Evie and the others talked fashion, gossip, trends, other girly things. Her clients sure had an interesting way of doing business, following Evie’s every step and clinging to her every movement even in the off-hours. So Evie was a fashion designer, and a darn great one, but it wasn’t a 24/7 affair.  
  
So why they came knocking on the door night after night to storm into the room and take up space with talking and laughter was beyond Mal. And then Evie stopped calling them her clients, and started calling them her friends.  
  
Evie and her friends would go out, take Audrey’s car away from Auradon Prep and into the city for days and nights of shopping, movies, breakfasts and lunches and dinners. Even before the surge of her best friend’s popularity, Mal was never invited out by Evie. Maybe it was just as simple as Evie knowing a girl’s day out was not Mal’s cup of tea, but even so, like dresses, there were still those things Mal didn’t mind when they came from her.  
  
Carlos was glad he had the brick wall of Jay to cower behind one morning at breakfast, after making the mistake of striking up innocent conversation with Mal.  
  
“Where’s Evie going?” he questioned, sacrificing a bite of pancake to ask when he looked across the dining hall and spotted Evie, Jane, and Lonnie heading out the doors.  
  
“How should I know??” Mal snapped. “Probably off to breakfast at one of her trendy little Auradon cafes with their fancy croissants and stupid macchiatos!”  
  
Of all the things for Mal to get uptight about, the boys never imagined food would be one of them.  
  
“…Croissants aren’t so bad,” Carlos shyly muttered.  
  
“Then you go eat them!!”  
  
Jay raised an eyebrow as Carlos leaned over in his seat and ducked behind him.  
  
"Get enough sleep last night, Mal?” he worriedly chuckled.  
  
“How is anyone supposed to sleep with a bunch of harpies in their room screeching about makeup and boys all night, huh?”  
  
The glower on Mal’s face could make Chernabog turn tail and zip back to Bald Mountain.  
  
Evie tried to be quiet one night as she slipped into the dorm room after a late movie with her brand new clique, but the door escaped her and slammed shut with just a little too much force, jolting Mal awake.  
  
“Oh, M, I’m sorry,” Evie whispered, even though there was no longer a need.  
  
She could see Mal sitting up in the moonlight, sleepy eyes squinting and trying to see. Sleepy eyes narrowing and hardening when she did.  
  
“…Oh sure, any other night you’d just trudge on over to Jane and Audrey’s room for a sleepover, but tonight you have to come in here and wake me up.”  
  
Mal flopped back onto her pillow, burying herself in the covers.  
  
Evie had never been on the receiving end of such venom from Mal before, at least, not since the days of Dragon Hall on The Isle.  
  
“…I said I was sorry,” she quietly apologized, taking off her heels.  
  
These late hours were the only times Mal and Evie were ever alone now, and they weren’t even awake for it.  
  
Evie was no fool, she saw Mal’s shoulder turning cold and her tongue growing sharp as days and weeks continued to pass. It had been a very long time since she was afraid of Mal, but how she feared their interactions now, feared saying the wrong thing (or anything, really) and getting her pretty head bitten off.  
  
And Mal was always good with walls, putting up barricades of brick and steel and titanium around herself. It was a method of survival from The Isle that was never lost, even in Auradon. But her oh-so-fatal flaw? She was human. And even the sturdiest of human walls eventually crumbled with time. Mal’s crumbled in the dorm room one night, when the loneliness and abandonment slammed like a tidal wave.  
  
She should’ve seen this coming.  
  
Evie may have been born to a villain, and raised a villain, but in her heart she had always been an Auradon girl. A princess. The royal symbol of elegance and grace and goodness. Of course she found friendship in others like her, others who shared her passions. Mal was nothing like her, and shared none of her passions. She hated the dresses, couldn’t care less about the makeup, thought nothing of the princess pastimes. She was only Mal, daughter of Maleficent, and no princess. So she’d been tossed away, just like all the other Auradon castoffs that found their way to the shores of The Isle. Well, she still had Jay and Carlos, she couldn’t truly say she was alone.  
  
But that didn’t stop her from feeling like it.  
  
When Jane said “Hi Mal!”, Mal grumbled “Whatever”. When Lonnie gave a passing wave, Mal returned with a passing glare. Girls interested in scoring themselves a coveted fitting would tentatively approach Mal with a “You’re Evie’s roommate, aren’t you?”, to which Mal would respond with a swaggering “So what if I am?!”  
  
She’d been minding her own business in her room when Evie brusquely stormed through the door, irritation souring her beautiful features.  
  
“Why have you been scaring away my customers?” she demanded, words tense and clipped as she crossed her arms.  
  
“Who says I have?” Mal boredly asked, not even looking up from her sketchbook.  
  
“All the girls wanting me to come to  _their_ dorms to take their measurements because they don’t want to set foot in mine.”  
  
“Ours,” Mal corrected.  
  
“…M, what is wrong?” Evie took on a softer approach. “Why are you being so mean?”  
  
“Let’s call it a wacky personality trait.”  
  
Evie didn’t even have the energy to get into it with Mal right then and there, and merely turned on her heels with a huff, storming back out the way she came and slamming the door shut behind her.  
  
Leaving Mal alone.  
  
Evie was out on a Sunday, making her rounds through the school to deliver a batch of sundresses to friends of Audrey’s who had an upcoming royal picnic planned, where they hoped to run into photographers and news crews alike. So Mal didn’t know why she thought the knock on her door might be her, or why she was surprised to see the boys instead of Evie when she called out a gruff “Yeah?” from her spot on the bed.  
  
“Look, I brought Jay along, so good luck trying to throw us out,” Carlos tried to stand firm and tough.  
  
“Talk fast and you can just walk yourselves out.”  
  
Jay’s presence had never stopped her from forcibly evicting them from a situation before.  
  
With all the free space in the dorm room, the boys came over and sat themselves down on Mal’s bed with her, and if they were anyone other than friends Mal would’ve come out fists swinging to stake her claim on personal boundaries.  
  
“We came to talk about you and Evie,” Jay said.  
  
“Then you really do have a short talk,” Mal sneered, unimpressed.  
  
Carlos ignored the bravado.  
  
“She’s been spending a lot of time with the Auradon crowd, hasn’t she?” he prodded.  
  
“Haven’t noticed,” Mal brushed him off.  
  
“Mal, this is us you’re talking to,” Jay said. “Jay, son of Jafar, and Carlos, son of Cruella.”   
  
“Jay, son of a man who’s only interest is in gold and riches, and Carlos, son of a woman who cares more about her furs than her own kid.”  
  
“We know you’re jealous of all the time those other girls get to spend with Evie,” Jay got to the point. “We know that you hate how they’re getting close to _your_ best friend.”  
  
Mal rolled her eyes.  
  
“Some best friend,” she denied.  
  
“Mal…” Carlos said her name ever so softly. “All four of us know what it feels like to be passed over, and abandoned. It’s pretty much who we are. We got it from our parents, and we got it from Auradon too. But Evie? She’s not like them.”  
  
“Evie not like Auradon? Where have you been?” Mal scoffed. “I’d say she’s inherited the kingdom’s flair for looking the other way.”  
  
“Mal, this is her dream,” Carlos went on. “She’s a designer. She has her own clothing line. Princes and princesses are coming to her to ask for Evie originals, this is everything she ever could have wanted!”  
  
“Exactly. And I’m not part of that.”  
  
Carlos sheepishly realized he’d missed his own point at Mal’s words and Jay’s glare. Thinking too fast for his own good, he tried to salvage the conversation. And failed.  
  
“What do you mean you’re not part of that? Who is it that Evie comes back to at the end of every night?”  
  
“I’m her roommate, she doesn’t have a choice,” Mal pushed her way past Jay and Carlos to get up from the bed, walking away from their useless pep talk.  
  
Jay gave Carlos a shove, a silent signal to just shut up.  
  
“Evie doesn’t need a choice because she’ll always choose you,” he firmly said. “Yeah, she’s enjoying some of the celebrity life, and yeah, people clamoring for your time and attention isn’t such a bad thing, but when the crowd clears at the end of the day, you’re still her best friend.”  
  
“She’s got a lousy way of showing it,” Mal simply couldn’t be swayed.  
  
Carlos sighed heavily, looking to Jay as a sign that they weren’t getting anywhere.  
  
“…Well, just think about what we said, Mal,” Jay urged.  
  
But Mal would not. Not that afternoon, or that evening, or the next day, or the day after that.  
  
It was a surprise when she woke up one morning to the sound of birds instead of hushed whispers as Evie tried to work and measure girls while Mal slept. When Mal sat up and rubbed her eyes, Evie was already dressed, putting the finishing touches on her eyeliner and lipstick.  
  
“…What? No entourage? No paparazzi?” Mal yawned.  
  
“Not today,” Evie brushed her hair over one shoulder with her fingers. “It’s a Saturday, I thought I’d take the day off.”  
  
“I’m sure being a star is exhausting.”  
  
Evie wouldn’t let Mal’s attitude rile her. She grabbed her purse from the desk and slipped it over her shoulder.  
  
“I just figured I’m due for a break and a day to myself,” she said simply, heading for the door. “Nothing to sew, no sketches to make. I can just relax and spend the day out with my best friend.”  
  
Mal stiffened.  
  
“…Your what?” she repeated.  
  
“Bye, M.”  
  
Evie gave her a little wave at the door, but nothing else, and then she was gone.  
  
Why was Mal shocked? Why was the sleep clearing from her eyes to make room for tears? It was what she had been saying all along, wasn’t it? She wasn’t Evie’s anything anymore, not since Evie followed in Auradon’s footsteps and turned a blind eye towards a villain so she could indulge in all the glitz and glamour the royal kingdom had to offer. She’d left The Isle behind, and in doing so she left Mal behind, moving on to newer and better friends. Mal was already well aware of this.  
  
So why couldn’t she stop crying?  
  
The eventual knock on the door was the only thing that put a cease on the tears, as Mal would never let herself be seen so weak and vulnerable. There was only one person who was ever allowed to see that side of Mal, and that one person had lost the privilege. She quickly dried her eyes, decided to pass the redness off as sleep, and rolled out of bed to open the door.  
  
And found Evie out in the hallway, a smile on her face.  
  
“Still in your pajamas?” she laughed. “I know you’re kind of a slow start in the mornings, but honestly…”  
  
Mal wasn’t amused.  
  
“Evie, what the heck are you—”  
  
“Didn’t you hear? I’m spending the day out with my best friend.”  
  
Mal took a step back, away from Evie, and it gave Evie the space to come into the room and close the door.  
  
“…Mal, I’m so sorry. I never meant to neglect you. That’s the last thing I would ever want to do.”  
  
“Then why did you?!”  
  
The bite in Mal’s question was dulled by the tears in her eyes.  
  
“M, I wish I had an excuse, because then maybe you might feel better, but I don’t,” Evie said sadly. “Auradon is a dream come true. My own clothing line, everyone wanting  _my_ fashions, everyone wanting to be close to  _me?_  Back on The Isle, living in a decrepit castle under the tyrannical rule of my mother, all of this seemed like everything I could ever want. People who like me for me and what I could do. But it turns out I never needed crowds of fans for that…all I needed was one.”  
  
Mal looked away with a sniff, petulantly glaring off to the side. Evie didn’t let it break her focus.  
  
“You’ve always been my biggest fan, Mal,” she smiled shyly, worried the expression wasn’t welcome. “I got caught up in popularity and forgot, and for that, I’m so,  _so_ sorry. I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you, and sorry I haven’t spent any time with you. You have every right to be mad and upset, but if you still want me…I’d still love to be your best friend.”  
  
Mal shouldn’t want her, and should instead take her up on each and every right to be angry. After everything they’d been through together, Evie let a little fame get to her head? Let it kick Mal out of her life for over a month? No, she shouldn’t let Evie back in, her pride and hurt completely forbade it.  
  
“…I just missed you, that’s all,” Mal murmured, almost ashamedly. Remembering Evie had lost the privilege of seeing her weak and hating to show that side of her now.  
  
“…I missed you too.”  
  
Evie came forward, ready to hug, but Mal took a step back, eyes watering yet warning.   
  
“You left me,” Mal whispered.  
  
Evie vehemently shook her head.  
  
“I didn’t. I just…I lost you in a crowd. I would never leave you.”  
  
“You’d just forget me,” Mal scowled.  
  
When Evie stepped close again, Mal grudgingly let her.  
  
“…Sometimes people forget things. They get so caught up in the world around them that they walk away and forget a phone, or a book, or a set of keys. But you know something, Mal? They always come back for them. And you mean so much more to me than a phone or a silly book, or a stupid pair of keys. So I’d like to spend the day with you, something I haven’t gotten a chance to do in a while.”  
  
“…I really missed you,” Mal said again.  
  
“I really missed you.”  
  
“…And you really want to give me a hug, don’t you?”  
  
“…Yes please.”  
  
So when Mal opened her arms, Evie practically ran into them, apologizing again and again with a tight embrace.  
  
“I’ll make it up to you, Mal. I promise,” Evie told her.  
  
She pulled away just enough to meet Mal’s gaze with a hopeful smile, but wouldn’t let her go from her arms.  
  
“So what do you say? Want to spend the day with me?” she asked.  
  
“…No. I want to spend the day with my best friend.”  
  
“…That’s me, right?” Evie had to double-check.  
  
Mal buried her face in Evie’s shoulder, closing her eyes.  
  
“It’ll always be you,” she mumbled into the collar of Evie’s shirt. “Even if you don’t want it to be me. I know I’m not one of those frilly Auradon girls, and I don’t care about the parties and the ballgowns and—”  
  
“And that’s what makes you so special,” Evie interrupted. “I could talk to Audrey about The Isle and she’d turn her nose up at me, but I could talk to you about Auradon and you’d hang on to every word. You don’t care about some of the things I care about, but they still matter to you. They matter to you because they matter to  _me._  And that’s what makes you the best. My best. And if my best is hungry, I’ll take her out for breakfast. Strawberry pancakes.”  
  
“…Her favorite,” Mal looked up at her and smiled.  
  
“Her favorite.”  
  
“…You’re her favorite, Evie,” Mal shyly admitted.  
  
And Evie held her close, almost intent on never ever letting Mal go again.  
  
“She’s my favorite too, Mal.”


End file.
